Mese: gennaio 2017

As my journey and Italy dwindles down to the last month, I have been very lucky to have an abundance of family visits to savor my remaining moments in Italy. For my Aunt Barbara’s trip, I planned a four-day road trip through small hill towns in Chianti and the Val d’Arno. Our itinerary was derived from Eyewitness Travel’s “Back Roads of Northern and Central Italy.” My aunt rented a stick-shift Lancia which drove wonderfully on the windy roads across the countryside. Impressively, she had not driven stick shift in several decades but still managed to conquer the roads with finesse!

The Val d’Arno region (east of the Arno River) was our starting point, and the first stop on the itinerary was the Ponte Buriano, which apparently appears in the background of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Unfortunately, the riverbed was almost dried up, which detracted from the supposedly picturesque view…

Fattoria Vialla is a bio farm in Castiglion Fibocchi well known in Germany and UK

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To get to the peacock, whom she was very much in love with.

This is the rendition of Romeo and Juliet at the Fattoria La Vialla, an organic farm, winery, and family-style restaurant atop the lush Chianti hills. The free-range chickens and vibrant-colored peacock are the first sights we come across as we reach the petite, cottage-like farmhouse, and, yes, one of the chickens really is fond of the peacock.

Unlike Buccia Nera, this winery is much more inviting and alive; as our guide leads us down to the wine cellar, I can’t help but notice that the employees all carry bright smiles and warm greetings, the animals running about take an amicable curiosity to new guests, and the overall venue is bright and colorful. What’s even more astonishing is that all the processes at the farm – the winemaking, the farming, the olive oil production – are organic, and minimization of carbon emissions is a top…

A few years ago I was looking for good quality wine and came across a website. I subscribed and a few days later the catalog arrived. It came in a small box with a little present in it. The catalog was made out of recycled paper and the present was a branch of one of their olive trees. It was a nice surprise but didn’t really had a place to plant it. The “fattoria” has a really nice concept. They’re a CO2 neutral company, create bio products and work with recycled materials.

Once I started looking in their catalog, I noticed that they have a lot of wines (red, white and sparkling). But also some pasta, olive oil, sauces and cookies. All made by them with materials they produce themselves. I couldn’t decide so I ordered a pack with 7 of their red wines (they’ve more than 7 red wines but…